Breaking: Election Day is here! Make your selections: control of Congress, 36 governorships and the direction of Trump's final two years are on the ballot

Polls are open across the country this Election Day, Tuesday, November 3, 2026, as voters decide who will control Congress for the final two years of President Donald Trump's second term and who will hold 36 governor's offices nationwide. If you have not voted yet, find your polling place at vote.gov or through your state election office. Poll hours vary by state, according to Ballotpedia: most states open between 6 and 8 a.m. local time and close between 6 and 9 p.m., with New York keeping polls open until 9 p.m., and anyone in line when polls close is entitled to cast a ballot. Identification rules differ by state, so check your state's requirements before you go.

According to the Associated Press, the election arrives with voters struggling with high prices and angry over an unpopular war with Iran. AP-NORC polling finds 35 percent of U.S. adults approve of Trump's job performance, 25 percent approve of his handling of the economy, and about 7 in 10 say the country is heading in the wrong direction. Most blame him for high prices. More than 57 million people had already voted as of Monday, surpassing the early vote of four years ago in many closely watched states.

The stakes are concrete. If Democrats win even one chamber of Congress, investigations and possible impeachment proceedings become likely, according to the Associated Press. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries would be the first Black speaker and has outlined a 100-day agenda on the cost of living and oversight. A strong Democratic night would boost potential 2028 candidates Gavin Newsom, JB Pritzker and Pete Buttigieg, and could complicate Vice President JD Vance's path.

Republicans enter the day braced to lose the House and fighting to hold the Senate, the Associated Press reports, with one or two seats able to tip either chamber. Democrats were described as cautiously optimistic. Republicans tried to beat the midterm pattern, in which a president's party almost always loses seats, through redistricting, but new districts in Florida and elsewhere may not vote as drawn.

In the U.S. House, all 435 seats are on the ballot, according to Ballotpedia. Republicans hold 218 seats, Democrats hold 214, and one independent, with vacancies. Democrats need a net gain of three districts for a majority, while Republicans can lose no more than two. Sixty House incumbents, 23 Democrats and 37 Republicans, did not run again. Ballotpedia counts 46 battleground districts, 25 held by Democrats and 21 held by Republicans. Twenty-one Democratic-held districts voted for Trump in 2024, while nine Republican-held districts voted for Kamala Harris.

In the U.S. Senate, 35 of 100 seats are up, according to Ballotpedia: 33 regular elections, 13 in Democratic-held states and 20 in Republican-held states, plus two special elections for the rest of the terms Marco Rubio of Florida and JD Vance of Ohio were elected to in 2022. Republicans hold 53 seats, Democrats hold 45, and two independents caucus with Democrats. Democrats need a net gain of four seats for a majority; Republicans can lose only two. Eleven senators, four Democrats and seven Republicans, are not running again. Winners begin six-year terms on January 3, 2027.

Ballotpedia identifies 13 Senate battlegrounds. In Maine, Republican Susan Collins faces Democratic former state Senate President Troy Jackson, and the Associated Press says economic strain and tariffs have made the state competitive; Maine is a toss-up on all four race ratings tracked as of October 27. In Georgia, Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff faces Republican Rep. Mike Collins. In Ohio, Democratic former Sen. Sherrod Brown faces Republican Sen. Jon Husted in a special election. In Michigan, Republican former Rep. Mike Rogers faces Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, who received an endorsement Sunday from his former primary opponent Haley Stevens. In Texas, Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, whom Trump backed over Sen. John Cornyn in the primary, faces Democrat James Talarico. In North Carolina, Democratic former Gov. Roy Cooper faces former Republican National Committee chair Michael Whatley, after Sen. Thom Tillis retired following clashes with Trump. In New Hampshire, Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas faces former Republican Sen. John E. Sununu for the seat Jeanne Shaheen is vacating. In Alaska, the Trump administration filed a lawsuit related to certification of the Senate result.

Republican National Committee Chairman Joe Gruters summed up his party's case: Everything depends on turnout. If we turn out our voters, we win, and that's what we've been planning for. Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chair Rep. Suzan DelBene made the opposing case: The American people are angry. They want change. Voters themselves are split. Mark Barker of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, said he has just been following Trump the whole time and really thinks he is doing an awesome job. James Moore, 57, a librarian in Raleigh, North Carolina, said he is paying more taxes, more for his healthcare and more for everything.

Thirty-six governorships are also on the ballot, according to Ballotpedia. Heading in, Republicans hold 26 governor's offices and Democrats 24, and each party holds 18 of the offices on the ballot. Nineteen races have no incumbent, with 15 governors term-limited, Iowa's Kim Reynolds, Minnesota's Tim Walz and Wisconsin's Tony Evers choosing not to run, and Rhode Island's Daniel McKee losing his primary. Democrats would need a net gain of two governorships for a nationwide majority, which Republicans have held since 2010. Democrats hope to hold a majority of governorships for the first time in two decades.

Governor races drawing attention include Georgia, where Republican health care executive Rick Jackson faces Democratic former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms to succeed Brian Kemp; Nevada, where Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo faces Democratic Attorney General Aaron Ford; and Ohio, where Republican Vivek Ramaswamy faces Democrat Amy Acton, a race in which Ramaswamy's campaign faced backlash over an ad featuring Acton's estranged mother. The Associated Press calls Texas, Florida and Iowa competitive governor races. Ballotpedia lists Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Nevada, Ohio and Wisconsin as governor battlegrounds, with Democrats defending five governorships in states Trump won in 2024 and Republicans defending two in states Harris won.

Six states are using new congressional maps after mid-decade redistricting, according to Ballotpedia: California, Florida, Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee and Texas, with Ohio also using a new map. Trump held dozens of rallies in the closing stretch, ending Sunday in Salina, Kansas, where he told supporters, I really want you to pretend I'm on the ballot. His schedule included Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas, though many Republican candidates kept their distance.

The 2026 elections will likely be the most expensive in history, according to the Associated Press. Republican committees outraised and outspent Democratic committees, helped by Trump-affiliated groups and Elon Musk, while at the candidate level Democrats outraised their opponents. An Associated Press analysis of AdImpact data found 88.1 percent of Republican general election TV ad spending went to states and districts Trump won in 2024, including more than $850 million where he won by 10 points or more.